L'Oréal announces expansion of Florence, Ky., plant

By Antoinette Alexander

NEW YORK — L'Oréal USA celebrated the expansion of its Florence, Ky., manufacturing plant with a groundbreaking ceremony featuring Gov. Steve Beshear.

The proposed plant expansion will include renovations to the existing plant, new construction and the purchase of new equipment. Located at 7080 New Buffington Rd., the plant currently employs more than 200 full-time workers who produce 165 million units of Garnier Fructis, L'Oréal Paris and Soft Sheen-Carson shampoo, conditioner and styling products each year. The company estimated that the 110,000-sq.-ft. plant expansion will create more than 200 new jobs over the next three years.

"L'Oréal's business is growing globally, and the expansion will enable us to meet increased consumer demand for the popular hair care brands we are producing in Kentucky," stated Eric Wolff, plant manager. "The Florence plant is a center of manufacturing excellence for the L'Oréal Group, and the decision to expand U.S. production here will result in significant economic benefit for Kentuckians."

L'Oréal stressed its committment to sustainable and responsible growth and has implemented numerous initiatives to reduce its C02 emissions, consumption of water and waste generation. Last year, the Florence plant announced an innovative "Wall to Wall" component supply program, which located its shampoo component supplier, Alpla, in the same factory where the Garnier Fructis shampoos and conditioners are produced. The initiative reduced environmental impacts, including freight, CO2 emissions, waste and costs. The plant has also implemented a vessel cleaning optimization program, called OptiCIP, which has reduced the amount of water used for vessel washing per unit of finished product by 43%. This program alone equates to an overall 18% reduction in total water consumption since 2005.

Since 2005, the Florence manufacturing plant has made significant improvements in its environmental performance and made the following reductions for 2011:

Kentucky Business Investment has committed to a $5 million tax incentive through the Kentucky Economic Finance Development Authority and another $800,000 tax incentive through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Ace in support of the plant expansion.